Event Eight.

[awashmods]

To thee I'll return, overburdened with care; The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there. No more from the cottage again will I roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

he Town is quiet this week. No sudden quests on the forum post, no roars of werewolves in the distance... just peaceful, peaceful quiet. Of course, it's hot as hell right now, but that aside, it's pretty pleasant. You probably don't want to wander around the Town right now, but... Naturally, now's when the Town is going to start thoroughly encouraging you to do just that. You do want to find your doorway back home, don't you? Better get searching! And don't mind the other worlds you might end up stumbling into first. Welcome to Awash's eighth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. You are welcome to start your own posts or logs for this event as well. If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you!

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[passio]

[ dextera pushes his wet hair out of his face and then shakes his head, slowly. based on the other things that have been happening around town, dextera assumes… he’ll be taking a little field trip. ]

I’m all yours.

[thriftea]

Good! Just follow me.

[And as soon as he's up and ready to go, they... are off! She leads the way to her house, chattering all the while about a wide variety of things: a recipe she's thinking about recreating here, the silly money goose Okuyasu sent to everyone, this oppressive heat they have to endure. It's idle chitchat meant to make the walk a little less boring, but she's all of out interesting tidbits to share by the time they pass through her front door and head up to her very neat, very girly room. There's nothing particularly interesting to see here, aside from a hyuge stack of gold-embossed paper and... her window, which is definitely not looking out over the quiet Chroma street. Everything probably looks really, really weird.

But it's the window she heads to, of course, and she gestures for him to come closer as she opens it right up. Hear that tinny-sounding mall music, Dextera? Feel the sweet, sweet caress of cold air? Nice.]

I know it's weird to step through a window, but it's safe. I've been in here a ton of times. [And just for emphasis, she slings a leg over the windowsill and just pops right through to the other side.] See? You step right onto solid ground!

[She stands to the side, holding her arms up in that universal "Ta-da!" gesture as she waits for him to follow. Come on in, buddy!]

[passio]

[ honestly, dextera trusts her with his entire being, so no part of him is worried about the possibility of stepping through a window and landing on the dirt below. if ochako has ordained for him to throw himself out the window, then so be it.

luckily, she’s sincere when she says that it’s safe—dextera follows her through, blinking away some brightness when he steps through into the artificially lit building.

it’s… completely unfamiliar, and there is a moment even where he stops and looks around to try to find the source of the music. whatever secrets his memory holds, he’s certain that he’s never been to a place like this before. furthermore, he’s extremely sure that he’s never been to japan, because he has no earthly idea what some of these signs say. ]

…?

[ the look of a man who is awestruck, perhaps a little heatstruck as well. ]

[thriftea]

[Welcome to this bastion of capitalism! While Dex takes it all in, she glances around to see if anything new has popped up since the last time she was here. That is a... no? Everything looks exactly the same, including the many hazy storefronts she was unable to walk through before. How nice to know that her shopping options are just as limited here as they are back home, albeit for totally different reasons...

But more importantly: Dextera. She looks back his way, studying his face for a moment before offering him a grin.]

We can look around, if you want! I mean, we can't go in every store, but that's probably a good thing. We'd be stuck here for an entire week.

[Thanks to the air conditioning, that isn't the worst thing in the world. But she's suddenly struck by an even better idea? Holy shit???]

Or we can go get ice cream first!

[Sorry, Dex, for the many new things she keeps throwing your way.]

[passio]

[ dextera doesn’t mind. ochako changes gears fast enough to make dextera’s head spin, but is it so bad? she’s just excited, and dextera is in turn excited as well. he’s never tasted ice cream, but at least this time, he knows what it is. he knows what to expect from it, and he’s still just a little hot from the time they spent walking over here. ]

What do you recommend?

[ look at how much he trusts you, ochako. do not lead him astray. ]

[thriftea]

For you?

[He's totally asking about ice cream, right? She just assumes that he is, because God, this is... this is really how she operates. Give her a second to seriously think this over.]

...Vanilla? To start with, [she clarifies, turning to briskly walk in the direction of the food court.] But then you should try a spoonful of every flavor! We can rank them from best to worst.

[passio]

[ even dextera knows that this is going to be a stupid question, but he doesn’t know how else to ask how long trying “every flavor” is going to keep them here. ]

How many flavors… are there?

[ he’s probably had vanilla before at some point in his life, but he can’t recall the taste. he trails after her, keeping pace with her hungry walk to the food court. ]

[thriftea]

[My American heart says thirty one, obviously, but Ochako just shrugs.]

A lot, but we don't have to try all of them if you don't want to. [A beat, and then, a touch sheepishly:] We'll probably feel really, really gross if we do.

[Is she still down for it? Oh, hell yeah!! There are far worse things than slipping into a food coma. But as the food court finally comes into view, she's reminded of the multitude of options available to them. Such a dilemma! She still heads right for the tiny little ice cream shop—the front of which is plastered in ads for a weird-looking treat—but she slows as they pass other stands full of magically fresh food. Why does mall fare always look so gross, yet so tasty...]

If you see anything else you want to try, Dextera, just go for it!

[passio]

[ guess what, ochako? dextera has the best superpower for this situation exactly. ]

I can’t get stomachaches.

[ no matter what or how much he eats, he is completely fortified against making himself sick on food. it’s a bad idea to gorge himself, but if he eats the entire ice cream shop because ochako has suggested it… then he’ll be just fine.

he’s quite excited to report this fact, too. ]

Let’s start here.

[ it’s ice cream time babey ]

[thriftea]

Sure! Dessert should always come first.

[But no stomachaches? Ever? That, in Ochako's humble opinion, is an incredibly useful quirk, and she wonders how many sundaes it would allow her to eat at one time as she ducks behind the counter. She's an intellectual, you see...]

So we'll try vanilla and ... [Hmm. She grabs a handful of plastic spoons, staring down at the many offerings before throwing open the display case door.] Strawberry? It's good to start with the simple things.

[Give her a second to scoop them, and then— ta-da! Here are the two promised flavors, so go on, Dex! Try them and give her your honest opinion.]

[passio]

[ ochako is so talented at getting him little daubs of ice cream. he takes them gratefully, examining each of them. the vanilla smells like the cookies that ochako made for him, and the strawberry… smells like strawberries. they’re each cold enough that they don’t have a strong smell in the first place, but he sniffs close enough to tell. ]

…?

[ first goes the vanilla, and he sticks the whole spoonful in his mouth only for his eyes to widen in abject shock. ]

Cold! [ signed with his now-free hand. ]

[thriftea]

[So no stomachaches, but brain freezes are still possible? There's something funny about that, and about his reaction, which is why she honestly can't help but to laugh. It's not an unkind laugh, though!! It's more of an affectionate laugh, because oh, Dextera...]

Ice cream is really cold. That's why it's the best thing to eat on a hot day, but you have to eat it slowly!

[Sage advice, which she absolutely does not follow. Goodbye, spoonful of vanilla ice cream! You were... boring, but still tasty. Next up: strawberry, which is only slightly more exciting.]

[passio]

[ ochako has a nice laugh. it’s infectious, and although dextera’s head is still throbbing from the onslaught of unexpected cold, he can’t help but smile in answer to her. “ice” cream… he should have expected it. in fact, he knew it would be cold. he just doesn’t learn things until he’s experience them himself. ]

Heh.

[ he lets the vanilla spoon drop into the trashcan, and tries the strawberry sample with a bit more grace this time. he likes this one, though—sweet, like vanilla, but with a refreshing tartness that he didn’t expect.

like, well… a strawberry. ]

[thriftea]

So? [Ochako watches him as she reaches for more spoons, grinning.] Which one was better?

[Strawberry is probably the victor here, but asking is the polite thing to do. She makes sure to wait for his response before grabbing samples of two new flavors, and this cycle will continue until he a) decides he's had enough ice cream for one day or b) they successfully manage to try every single flavor. Truth be told, there aren't too many flavors to try in this rinky dink mall shop; factor in the small spoons and they should be feelin' fine.

But whether they succeed or fail, as soon as she snaps the case door closed—]

Now you have to pick your absolute favorite. I think mine is probably... [She looks back down at her options, humming to herself before pointing out one container in particular.] Green tea! Even if I ate it every day, I don't think I'd ever get sick of it.

[She would. She likes her tea, it's true, but she absolutely would.]

[passio]

[ the green tea was nice, but the flavor was a little strange, a little bittersweet on his foreigner’s palate. strawberry has become his old reliable, but on sheer novelty alone, it’s one of the ~special~ offerings that’s caught his attention.

mint chocolate… with popping candy. his mouth is still crackling from it, and he thought he’d died when he first put it in there, but now he just finds he craves the sensation again.

he is a masochist, in all ways. ]

The popping one.